Editorial: The Contentious Interface between Modern and Traditional Medicine Practices

Abstract

In June 3-7, 1985, the Commonwealth Science Secretariat in London convened a scientific seminar in Harare, Zimbabwe where research papers on tropical medicinal and aromatic plants were presented. Participants were drawn from several countries in Africa, Caribbean and Asia. The proceedings of this seminar are published as CSC Technical Publication Series No. 235 CSC (87) RNR-11, and are available from Commonwealth Secretariat, Malborough House, London. Traditional healers from Zimbabwe were invited to the seminar as observers. Their patron, a sociology professor from the University of Zimbabwe, addressed the participants and claimed to be a spirit medium capable of communicating with ancestral spirits. The professor argued strongly in favour of allowing traditional healers to practice in government hospitals alongside modern doctors. He accused the Zimbabwean government of reneging on an earlier promise, given just before the country attained independence from Britain, an accusation denied by the Minister for Health. It was however clear to many of us that the Minister's rebuttal was less than candid.